Because I Said So: (A Texas Heroes Crossover Novel) (The Hell Yeah! Series)

by Sable Hunter

  Once she was naked, he let his eyes slide over her, feasting on the sight. With one swift move, he took her arm, spun her around, and pulled her back against him. The sensation of her firm, round bottom nudging his aching dick made him groan. Caging her in his arms, he buried his face in her hair, moving it aside to lick her neck from shoulder to the soft point where her pulse beat heavily. Brodie felt primitive. Alpha. Every cell of his body was demanding he fuck this woman until neither of them could walk. “Let’s see how much you want me.”

  The whispered words in her ear caused Shane to tense. “No.” The idea of him testing her desire for him upset her, made her feel vulnerable. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  He nudged her neck, moved her hair away with his jaw – then he nipped her on her ear. “Because I said so.”

  As if she were a puppet and he held the strings, she took one step to the side, parting her legs. He chuckled, snaking his hand down her side and around her hip, delving his fingers into her pussy.

  What he found there was almost his undoing. She was drenched – creamy, silky, soft – wet, and wild. “God, you’re starved for it, aren’t you?”

  His reminder of her forced celibacy caused a sharp pain to slash across her chest. “Normal reaction to stimuli.” She tried to sound clinical and cool.

  “Liar. Even knowing I’ll pretend you’re someone else while I’m fucking you, you still want me. Just me.” His words were designed to further his mission – push Shane away so hard that she’d quit tormenting him. But even as he enunciated the accusation, Brodie knew it wasn’t true. To his surprise, Shane consumed him. He couldn’t even bring another woman’s face to mind. Not even…

  “On the bed!” he demanded. Brodie needed to get on with this. Do the deed and bring this charade to an end. He’d never love anyone else, he didn’t want to love anyone else.

  “Okay.” Her small voice, following Brodie’s order without question, slayed him. A question blurted from his lips before he could call it back. “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting me treat you this way?”

  Halfway to the bed, Shane froze. Her back was to him, so he couldn’t see her face. She searched for an answer, for words to explain herself to him. “For the same reason you are, we’re trying to prove something to one another.” The volume of her voice dropped. “And I need to know if I’m enough…” Without further explanation, she turned and sat on the bed, scooting back.

  Brodie’s eyes got hung up on the graceful movement of her limbs against the softness of the coverlet. He started to ask her to explain, but he didn’t have to. Brodie knew he was going to pay for his misdeeds. A special place in hell awaited him. “You’re a do-gooder, aren’t you, Miss Shane? You have some insane idea that you’re going to save me.” What she didn’t understand was that he didn’t want to be saved. “Turn over, I don’t want to see your eyes while I take you.” He sucked his breath in at the look of hurt on her face. All of this turmoil of emotions should have sapped the starch from his dick – but it didn’t. He was long, hard, thick, and hungry.

  Moving up the bed on all fours, she turned up the sexiest ass he’d ever seen. The smooth line of her back drew his hands, the hint of pink between her legs almost brought him to his knees. Shucking off his jeans, socks and shoes, he came to the bed and crawled in. Coming over her, he grazed his body against hers, sliding his chest from the round globes of her rump, up and over her back. Once he blanketed her, Brodie pressed part of his weight on top of her. He took a bit of satisfaction that she had to brace herself to support his weight. Giving her the illusion that he could crush her made him happy. Holding himself up by one arm, he picked up her hair, twisting it around his fist and gave it a tug. Pulling her head to one side, he licked her neck, taking a deep whiff of her scent. “Down. Face on the mattress. Ass in the air.” He rattled off commands and expected them to be obeyed. When she was in position, he straddled her, slid his hands beneath her and filled them with her tits. Giving in to his hunger, he set out to please himself. He fitted his dick into the notch of her backside, not penetrating anything, just sandwiched in between her pussy lips. Then, he raised her up, held on to her tits and squeezed them, pushing his cock up to nudge at her clit.

  Shane whimpered. He might be an asshole, but his hands on her body felt so good. He was rough, pinching her nipples, massaging her flesh hard.

  Brodie didn’t get the reaction he expected. Instead of wiggling to get away, she bowed her back to push her tits into his hands and ground her ass back against him.

  Just that simple – he lost it.

  “Back down,” he grated the words out between his teeth. She glanced at him over her shoulder. The fragileness in her face made his gut wrench. God, if she only knew the truth. He thought he was punishing her – and, hell yes, that had been the plan…now, all he wanted to do was fall at her feet and give her all the adoration she deserved. Shane Wilder was perfection, there wasn’t a single damn thing wrong with her and he wanted her so much he ached.

  Getting into position, Shane presented herself to him in the manner he’d demanded. She hid her face, knowing this was what she’d asked for, what she’d dreamed of. How nuts was that? This perfectly illustrated the old adage that you’d better be careful what you wished for, when you get it, you might be unpleasantly surprised.

  When she tilted up her ass, Brodie nearly lost his mind. Her pussy was so wet, a creamy pink flower, the petals opening just for him. Unable to resist, he touched, covering the pad of her sex with the palm of his hand – rubbing, massaging, dipping his fingers in and relishing the knowledge that he’d made her this way…needy, turned-on, and ready for whatever he wanted to do to her.

  Shane trembled with anticipation. She wanted him – anyway she could get him. “Please, Brodie.”

  Damn, the woman twitched her ass at him. If he had the strength, he’d have slapped her on that ass, ordered her to her feet and sent her on the way. But he couldn’t. Lord, he was weak. Weak. Standing right behind her, he ran his hands up her thighs, settling on her hips. Pulling her back, he held her still with one hand and took his cock in the other – fisting it. He didn’t need to coax it, his unruly appendage had been up for this before the rest of him had climbed aboard. “Are you on the pill?”

  Fine time to ask, he knew.

  “Yes.” Her voice was soft and muffled. “Please, Brodie, don’t make me wait anymore.”

  Taking his dick in hand, he slid the tip through her slit, coating himself in her juices. She was excited. For that he was grateful, because he was shaking with lust. He bet he couldn’t last more than two or three strokes before he shot his wad deep inside of her.

  Steadying himself, he positioned the tip at the well of her pussy and slowly pushed in.

  Both of them let out a groan. Brodie threw back his head and hissed breath out through his teeth. “Fuck!” Lord help, he wasn’t ready for this. He knew he was hungry for it. He knew his body was starved for sex. But he hadn’t expected for it to feel so frickin’ perfect. Brodie held her hips and pushed in and out with short jabs, unwilling to completely unsheathe his dick. How had he lived without this? How was he going to give it up? He tried to make his mind blank, but the way she made him feel! She was so tight. So warm. So soft. His whole body was tingling. This was, at the same time – both ecstasy and torment.

  She wasn’t saying anything, just making little hungry noises that turned him inside out. Pulling his cock almost all the way from her body, he gazed at how they looked joined, at the evidence of her desire glistening on his flesh. “Can you handle it?” he inquired, already knowing what her answer would be.

  “More!”

  For once, he agreed with Shane Wilder. Grasping her hips, he plowed back in. Over and over. Deeper. Harder. Faster. He fucked her with mindless hunger. Brodie didn’t think he’d ever get enough. “Like that?” he asked, surprised that he cared.

  “God, yes,” she cried, her hands white-knuckled as they clawe
d at the blanket. “Brodie!”

  His name on her lips made him feel things he didn’t want to feel. To obliterate the unwanted emotion from his head, he sought to drown out the feelings with sensation. Coming over Shane, he blanketed her back, thighs to thighs. He steadied himself with one arm and reached under to hold onto a breast with the other. With all of his strength, he slammed into her – rutting, fucking, thrusting in and pulling out. He could feel her pussy clutching him, she was taking everything he dished out and begging for more.

  Shane couldn’t hold out. What Brodie was making her feel was almost too big to be contained within her body. She felt the tension build, the climax rising as he filled her up – over and over again.

  Brodie purposely held on until he felt her body tense with mounting pleasure. With calculating precision, he timed his emotional blow to her most vulnerable moment. When she’d flown apart, crying out his name, and melting in his arms – he thrust forward hard, let his own orgasm explode – at the very moment he bellowed Mary’s name.

  * * *

  White hot mortification engulfed her. Even while he was still on top of her, still in her, shaking from his orgasm, Shane lay beneath him quaking with shame. What had she done? She’d let him use her, abuse her. And for what? To redeem this man from his own nightmare?

  What about her own?

  “Get off me.”

  Brodie knew the moment the truth dawned for Shane Wilder. Even in the midst of the most amazing sex he’d ever had, Brodie had known when his orchestrated hoax had hit home. He’d tried to prepare her, he’d been honest. Hadn’t he?

  The only quandary he struggled with was why he felt such a renewed sense of loss. Mary was gone. Shane was a substitute. So why did he feel like he’d just let some miraculous treasure slip through his fingertips?

  “Get off me,” she repeated, reversing her position beneath him, her small hands pushing at his chest.

  “Just had to get my breath.” He lifted himself, readjusting his mental shield. “Thanks, babe. That was great. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.” The rehearsed words felt bitter on his tongue. Saying them was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

  Rising, he felt the loss of her body heat like the loss of the warmth of the sun. Turning his back to her, Brodie forced himself to walk to the bathroom. This was for the best. This would set everything aright. Tomorrow the world would spin sure on its axis.

  Once Brodie closed the bathroom door behind him, Shane climbed from the bed and hastily redressed. She’d thought Rodney’s rejection was painful, that nightmare paled to this clusterfuck. Scrambling to pull on her boots and get out of his bedroom before he returned, Shane didn’t even bother to put on her socks. She might get blisters, but the pain would be welcome. Anything would be better than the ache in her heart she was feeling now.

  As she was about to leave, Shane thought better of her graceful exit. Needing to expend some energy, she jerked the covers from the bed, tossed the pillows to the floor and picked up a paperweight from his dressed and lobbed it against the door that he was behind. “Go to hell, you jerk! I want a transfer!”

  Behind the door, Brodie leaned on the sink, staring at himself in the mirror. Yes, he was a jerk, he couldn’t disagree. And he wanted her to get a transfer, that was exactly what he’d been striving for. So, why did he feel like he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life?

  Shane ran for the door, escaping out into the growing dusk. Pulling her keys from her pocket, she threw open the door of her car and jumped in. Grabbing the steering wheel, she rested her head against it, taking big gulping breaths of air. He’d made her feel worthless, less than nothing. She felt dirty. Used.

  And it wasn’t all his fault. Hell, it wasn’t his fault at all. She’d walked into this trap with her eyes open. The very idea that she could change him, that he’d instantly morph into a human being once she allowed him into her body was ludicrous. With a harsh laugh, she started the engine and gunned it – escaping into the night. If she never saw Brodie Walton again, it would be too soon.

  Inside…Brodie still stood naked. He’d heard the slamming of the door, the roar of her engine. He knew Shane was gone. Concern for her safety worried him. When she left, she’d been driving too fast, in no condition to be on the road. He hoped she’d be safe. He didn’t want anything to happen to her. What he’d done was bad enough. After this, she’d never forgive him. How in the hell would he face her tomorrow? Good thing she would be seeking a transfer. He’d do everything in his power to grant her one, all he had to do was talk to Logan. Telling his Chief what had happened wouldn’t be easy.

  In the meantime, he had to get rid of the sheets, the comforter, the pillows – hell - the bed. He couldn’t leave anything in the room that would remind him of Shane. He just didn’t think he could stand it.

  …Down the road, Shane peered at the highway through a sheen of tears. Was this her destiny? To be alone? Why did she attract assholes? A sense of fairness asserted itself. She hadn’t attracted Brodie Walton; Shane had pursued him. She’d tried to convince herself that she’d had his best interest at heart – to awaken him – to make him realize that life goes on. But the truth was much uglier, she’d seen what she wanted and she’d gone after it.

  Well, to hell with him.

  She’d told Rodney she didn’t need a man, flung the words at him in a moment of anger. “I don’t need a man.” This time she said them with an assurance of their truth. She didn’t need one and she didn’t want one. They were far more trouble than they were worth.

  * * *

  The next day, they both dreaded going to the station.

  Brodie put it off as long as possible, stopping for coffee with Sawyer. He sure as hell didn’t intend to bring up Shane or their disastrous encounter. He didn’t have to. Sawyer did it for him. “How’s your pretty partner?” he asked.

  “She’s not going to be my partner much longer. She’s moving on.” There, he hoped his buddy would leave it at that.

  But, no.

  “What do you mean? Where’s she going? What happened?”

  Brodie frowned at his gentleman farmer friend. “Which one of those questions do you want answered first?”

  “The one that’s making you look guilty as hell. What did you do?”

  Brodie took a drink of coffee, putting off the moment of truth. When Sawyer continued to hold his gaze, Brodie folded. “She had this crazy idea that she was going to save me.” He shrugged. “She had a crush, I guess you could say. Felt like she was going to lead me from the darkness to the light.”

  “Well, somebody sure as hell needs to.” Sawyer huffed. “Tell me the rest of it.”

  Brodie didn’t want to. Sawyer wasn’t going to approve. Who would? He’d acted like a fuckin’ barbarian. “I gave her what she asked for, to show her that it wasn’t what she wanted.”

  Sawyer put his arms on the table, leaning forward. “Does that mean what I think it means. You slept with her?”

  Brodie shook his head no, even as he said, “Yes.”

  Sawyer banged his fist on the table, causing the coffee cups to bounce and everyone in the diner to turn to look at them. “What the hell, Brodie? She’s a nice girl.”

  “Yea, and she deserves better than a broken, damaged, bastard like me.”

  “Did you hurt her? I know you haven’t been with a woman since…”

  Since Mary.

  “Not physically.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Sawyer demanded.

  Brodie bowed his head. He’d been a jerk. Hell, he’d been a monster. “I asked her if she wanted to be with me even when she knew that I’d be pretending she was someone else.”

  “Aw, Brodie.” Sawyer grimaced. “You didn’t.”

  “It gets worse.”

  “How could it possibly be worse?”

  “We were together.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “It was good.”

  Sawyer waited.

  “And t
hen when I finished, I deliberately called out…” He couldn’t say it. “Another name.”

  “Mary’s,” Sawyer said it for him.

  “Yea.” Resting his elbows on the table, he covered his face with his hands. “I didn’t think my strategy out too well.” He let out a harsh breath. “I was drunk.”

  “You were insane.”

  “Don’t hold back, buddy.” Brodie sighed. “I know I was out of line. I was wrong.”

  “You bet your life you were wrong. What do you feel for Shane?”

  Sawyer’s question caught Brodie by surprise. What did he feel? Brodie tried to blank his mind. He didn’t want to face any truths he couldn’t handle. “I don’t feel anything for her. She works for me.”

  “Yea.” Sawyer nodded. “Think about that. She works for you. Ever heard of sexual harassment?”

  Brodie groaned. He hadn’t even thought of that. “Shane’s not like that!”

  “Oh, you have a high opinion of her?”

  He did. She was a good person and he’d treated her like shit. And for what? Her only crime had been that she liked him and had the audacity to let him know it. “She makes me feel…guilty.”

  “She makes you feel. Period. That’s the problem.”

  Sawyer saw too much as far as Brodie was concerned. “Regardless, what’s done is done. She won’t be bothering me again.”

  “That’s a pity. You shit and fell back in it, bro.”

  Brodie was afraid he might be right.

  …Across town, Shane neared the fire station. She’d lingered at home so long, she feared she might be late. Going to work this morning was hard. Frankly, she’d rather walk on a bed of nails than face Brodie Walton. She’d relieved their encounter a hundred times since last night, searching her mind for every detail – every nuance. In spite of his forewarning her that he’d be thinking of someone else, she’d felt so sure that he was responding to her – to her body, to her kiss, to her touch. Even if he’d been thinking of Mary, she could have stood that if he just hadn’t shouted her name. His blatant display had been a slap in her face. He’d treated her like a whore, less than a whore. What she’d offered him had been freely given and he’d still trod on her like she was dirt.